Access to information in residential real estate has evolved tremendously over the past several years.  Listing details used to be closely guarded by the real estate industry, now much of the information is available on thousands of websites.  Unfortunately many sites report incorrect information including showing homes for sale that are not actually on the market.  My buyer clients enjoy "the search" in hopes to find a hidden gem.  Hidden gems are rarely hidden . . .or actual gems.  Regardless, I encourage my clients to email any addresses they see online, for me to research the validity.  I always include thorough searches for my clients, but I don't mind doing the leg work to figure out if a home they see is acturally for sale.  Clients appreciate quick answers to their inquiries and I am happy to give that to them.  

David Arnold/ REMAX Around Atlanta 770-312-5759 David@HomerunAtlanta.com

While we have always verbally advised our clients on what not to do to insure a smooth closing after they apply for a mortgage, we decided to add this information on a disclosure document. For instance, while preparing to move in a new home prospective homebuyers may want to purchase items using credit prior to the closing and in some situations this can impact their debt ratio causing them to no longer be qualified. Paul and Stacie recently commented after their home purchase that having this information detailed in writing was a great resource because it is easy to forget what was covered in a phone conversation.

Jim Duelmer

678-409-8945

www.viningsmortgage.com

As a photography studio, one of the most cherished items is wall art that will be displayed at my clients homes. These are special memories that will have their forever home and be cherished for years to come. For this, I want a special thank you gift that they receive when I personally deliver their wall art to their home, a customized gift basket. Recently, I delivered five pieces of wall art to a family that will be on display in their dining room and living room. I also had a gift basket for them. The wife said "I shouldn't have done it" and then to her husband "This is for me". Not only will they have their wall art of their family for many years to come, she will remember the gift basket she received. 

One of our newest tools is program whitelisting. By allowing only known programs we prevent all other possible vectors for infection from an outside source. We combine this with a communications program that allows the user to request permission to run a program which takes less than 5 minutes to get an allow response which minimizes the impact on the end user's work.

Jonathan Ongtingco

6782132309

www.sohodvc.com

Gathering the required information to prepare taxes and tax planning requires the client to understand the source and components that make up their tax package.  For repeat clients, we have always offered upon request a tax organizer.  During tax planning, in 4th quarter, we will be not only encouraging using an organizer, but also setting expectations on timing.  This should speed up the client's data collection and help produce a return without missing key components.

Mark Chase, CPA, CGMA

678-234-9161

HA! I'm on my way, in 20 minutes, to Content Marketing World.  I'll get new, current, information to share in workshops.

And, I decided to put up a post in Wendy's Desk and share my Single Best Thing from each session each day. Interested? Click here? https://powercore.net/account/knowledge-base/posts/651

Fraud enhancements are key to a more technology savvy fraud environment.  I see this more as a family recipe that has been passed down with generational enhancements towards a recipe.  At City National Bank we have enhanced wire features and the anomaly detection has reduced wire fraud.  With these features set in place I recently helped a client save 95k from a wire being sent.  The wire department reached out to me asking for additional information to be verbally confirmed.  I talked with the client and they didn't verbally confirm the account changes from their vendor.  Once the client verbally confirmed the vendor stated this payment was fraudulent.  The client relayed the information to me as the wire was on hold until confirmation from the client and therefore the wire was returned saving the client from a 95k loss.

Chris Garber

City National Bank

Several clients ask once we come to the end of our three months in foundational coaching together, "what's next."

Some clients see the value of continued accountability and growth in their financial journey with the Accountability and Growth phase of my coaching.

They say that it helps to keep them on track with the process they worked so hard on for three months as well as having access to a trusted advisor for issues or opportunities that come up.

We have recently adopted a new software program that allows potential insureds to send me their policy information. It's easy and quick for the customer to use. It saves them from talking on the phone with me for 30 minutes while I gather all their information. Plus, since I can see their policies I can give them an apples to apples quote. It also allows me to look for any gaps in coverage they may have. All of my clients that have used it have nothing but positive things to say about it.

What stimulated the idea?  When homeowners ask for a retail price for a full roof replacement they are also asking for the "what elses". What else is included in that price. 

How did you decide what to include & what to save for a seperate meal? I wanted to include the System Plus warranty for ALL roof installs. This extra is about $120 in saving and the warranty covers items like: lifetime warranty on shingles, 50 years for smart choice protection and 130 mph wind speed coverage. We saved the Golden Pledge warranty for those roof over 3000 sq ft

Share what one client said about this new extra: Newnan had EF-4 tornados in 2021 and we had installed a new roof with GAF shingles 1 month before the tornado touched down. The homeowner had minimal damage to his shingles because he upgraded to architectural shingles from a 3-tab and had a Systems Plus warranrty 

I now share the internal project plan alongside client weekly project status reports as an extra. This allows clients detailed line of sight into the pace and progress of activities associated with their projects. The decision to include the project plan came from our adjustment to  accomodate clients that were unable to attend weekly project update calls. Feebback has been favorable. Clients appreciate the added information.